Surveillance truck rental?

Beat Takeshi

Beat Takeshi

Two-Hip Shakur
Hey does anyone know where in or near NYC I can rent one of those trucks or vans that look like the FBI is tapping phone lines and stuff with all the equipment inside?
I was thinking of building the insides and renting a uhaul and sliding them in but I probably wouldnt have the correct machines in there and to make it light I would probably pull the guts out of any electronics and put lights in to make it seem like its on. We would rather just rent one thats all put together though and looks legit. Any ideas?
 
I think a real one would be really cramped to shoot in. Maybe get a bigger UHaul and build it yourself i think would be better. No one really knows how a legit one looks anyways. So you can watch a movie that has one in it and then model it after that and then have more room to move around and light more creativly?

just my suggestions. g'luck
 
I'd imagine that renting a "real" surveillance van would be astronomically expensive/impossible. You could ask around spy shops, I guess, but overall I think you'd be subjecting yourself to a fair amount of scrutiny and mockery even trying it.

Rent any generic white van, get your hands on some rackmount gear and racks, and set it up yourself. Look at television production vans for a starting point. You might also consider building the interior as a static set and/or having a separate interior/exterior truck.
 
^good idea, to have a set thats in your garage or something thats supposed to be the inside of the van.
 
Enemy of the State and The Conversation both give pretty good looks at what the inside would look like, with the former being the more "up-to-date".
 
depending on your budget, I think it will be better to rent/borrow something already together, unless you want to rent a uhaul for a week, it will be a *****.... make sure you have a Mr. Coffeeee!!! I'd say most News vans are going to look like something interesting is going on, no one other than the people working with it will know what it actually does. so make some calls. or find a friendly insurance worker who will tell you who they hire....
 
Cool link. I will use that to build something if I can't get a truck.
We thought about building a set in a garage but you can't get a wide shot going in. We also thought about just making it more futuristic where they just use a laptop and some type of satallite doo hicky but the van seems more legit.

Sink now that I think about it, I know someone that works for NY1 that may be able to get us a truck for half a day...
Thanks.
 
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http://cryptome.org/dhs-truck.htm
 
Aram Bauman said:
Cool link. I will use that to build something if I can't get a truck.
We thought about building a set in a garage but you can't get a wide shot going in. We also thought about just making it more futuristic where they just use a laptop and some type of satallite doo hicky but the van seems more legit.

Sink now that I think about it, I know someone that works for NY1 that may be able to get us a truck for half a day...
Thanks.
Click to expand...

Also, Law and Order shoots in NY and they occasionally use one. Might be able to find out through them.
 
Thats another idea. I think i have a contact number for them. They have a set at the pier at 23rd st we went to when my daughters were on. I guess I can call the rep lady I know. I think the Uhaul might be the best bet because we also need a van type vehicle for a laundry truck and it can double up. I can just get those big ass magnet stickers to cover up the uhaul name and change it to what ever I need.
 
If the people don't directly interact with the equipment, couldn't you CG it in post? Come on, we know you have mad CG-skillz :thumbsup:
 
For this particular project I'm not going to have time to do the 3D also. It's for a feature joint and there are only two short shots of the van while a guy is taking a phone call from a kidnapper. I'm trying to avoid any 3D if I can. We are even going to build the inside of an elevator to cut out compositing. :)
 
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